


Phobia

by remanth



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: First Kiss, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Stucky - Freeform, pre-serum!Steve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-09
Updated: 2015-06-09
Packaged: 2018-04-03 13:40:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4102996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/remanth/pseuds/remanth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky rescues Steve yet again from another bully and cleans up the aftermath.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Phobia

“You really do have a phobia of running away, don’t you?” Bucky laughed quietly as he dabbed at the blood running down Steve’s arm. “It won’t kill you, you know.”

“If I run away once, then they will keep me running,” Steve argued, hissing slightly as the alcohol Bucky was using to clean his wounds stung. “If I stand up to them, then they aren’t hurting anyone else.”

“Except you,” Bucky countered, swiping gently at the cut near the top of Steve’s arm. It had finally stopped bleeding and he felt confident enough to move on to the next injury. “How many times have I found you in an alley getting the stuffing beaten out of you? One of these days, one of those guys isn’t going to stop. You could end up seriously hurt. Or worse, dead.”

In what had become a sadly familiar event, Bucky had come across Steve in an alley near the diner they stopped at for ice cream when they had a little extra money. The smaller man was on the ground but struggling to get up, not even trying to dodge the punches being thrown his way by the man two times his size and likely three his weight. Bucky had moved automatically, catching the man’s arm and shoving him away from Steve. One punch to the jaw had the man running while Steve picked himself up from the ground.

There was a lot of blood showing on Steve’s clothes, most from a cut on his cheek and a split lip. But there were other fresh spots on his shoulders, showing there was at least one cut on his arm somewhere. He’d helped Steve limp home, the fall having hurt his hip. It was likely bruised though Steve would never say anything about the pain. After setting Steve on the old couch in his living room, Bucky had grabbed the medical supplies to patch Steve back together. Thanks to his mother, Steve had a good stock of first aid things and both he and Bucky knew how to use it all. Steve had shrugged out of his shirt, letting it drop to the floor beside them.

“I don’t think I’d end up dead, Buck, you’re exaggerating,” Steve shrugged, hissing again when the motion pulled at the cut on his shoulder. The bruises, scrapes, and cuts were all familiar, the pain something he dealt with on a daily basis. That didn’t make it hurt any less but it did make it a little more bearable. “They need to be taught that they can’t just bully people.”

Bucky just snorted, checking the cut on Steve’s shoulder again to make sure it wasn’t bleeding. He ran gentle fingers over it, lingering just short of too long. It was like this every time too; the chance to touch Steve and make sure he was all right. The feel of skin on skin. Steve never mentioned anything when his fingers tended to linger a little long nor did he ever flinch away. And there were a few times that Bucky thought he might have leaned into his fingers, relaxed just a little at the touch on his skin. Then again, that could just be the exhaustion or the pain. Even though he had a feeling it might be terrible of him, he enjoyed these interactions. He just wished that they didn’t have to happen after Steve was beaten up yet again.

Now that he’d dealt with the cut on Steve’s shoulder, Bucky shifted around him and looked at his face. The split lip looked to be healing on it’s own though he dabbed a little alcohol on it anyways. No telling what might have been on the ground and Steve probably couldn’t handle any infections. The weather was turning cold and winter was hard enough on Steve as it was. As Bucky touched Steve’s lip, he groaned and flinched away. Bucky felt a flash of guilt and worry at that. He’d tried to be as soft as possible so as not to hurt Steve. He grabbed Steve’s chin and turned his face back towards him, studying the split lip. On impulse, Bucky leaned forward and pressed a light kiss to Steve’s lips. He sat back immediately, face turning red with embarrassment. He dropped his hand and put some more alcohol on the cloth he was using, avoiding Steve’s eyes. Why had he done that? He shouldn’t have.

“Buck?” Steve asked quietly when Bucky just sat there staring at the cloth in his hands. “You gonna finish what you started?”

“Huh?” Bucky asked inelegantly, eyes jerking up to Steve’s before skating away. Fingers tightened on the cloth in his hands. “Oh right, yeah. The cut on your cheek. That one looks like its stopped bleeding too so no stitches. All it needs is some cleaning.”

Bucky suited his gesture to his words, scrubbing the blood away from Steve’s cheek and the side of his neck. It had managed to drip halfway down his neck and it was a good thing it hadn’t reached his collar. Getting blood out of clothes was difficult. He kept his eyes on his hand, still avoiding Steve’s. And, incidentally, the double meaning in Steve’s question. The repetitive motion eased some of the embarrassment, letting the flush on Bucky’s face cool. He spent a little too long cleaning the blood away, knew he was, but couldn’t stop him. Steve didn’t complain, didn’t stop him, just watched him with clear blue eyes. And, if Bucky had looked at him, eyes filled with curiosity and speculation.

“There, all done,” Bucky said, closing the alcohol bottle and dropping the bloody cloth on the arm of the couch. “I noticed you limping but there’s no blood anywhere else so you’re probably fine. I can see the edges of a bruise coming up your side so you probably have a spectacular one on your hip.”

“It’ll heal,” Steve said simply, still watching Bucky. They sat in stillness, neither moving to clean up the first aid stuff like they usually did. “But that’s not what I meant, Bucky, when I asked you if you were going to finish what you started?”

“No?” Bucky said lightly though his stomach twisted into nervous knots. “What did you mean then?”

“I meant this,” Steve said in a determined voice. He leaned forward and captured Bucky’s chin in a mirror of what Bucky had done. Then, his eyes on Bucky’s the whole time, Steve closed the distance between them and kissed Bucky. This one wasn’t the light, barely-there kiss of before. This one was more firm, more knowing. It promised more if more was wanted. Though it wasn’t a long kiss, both felt breathless when Steve finally pulled away. “So, are you?”

“Definitely,” Bucky replied, smiling at Steve before pushing him onto the couch and kissing him again.


End file.
